Bills Manuel Cleared to Practice

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.-Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel told the media this morning that he has been cleared to return to practice. Manuel hopes to be able to play Sunday against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Manuel said that head coach Doug Marrone is aware of his situation. "He knows where I'm at, so it's more so on him." Marrone will have the final say on if Manuel returns to the lineup. Marrone said Monday afternoon "he has been cleared by the doctors, but again we have to make a good decision. We have to get him out there and see how he's doing from a football movement standpoint. We've had him out there throwing which is something that we amped up quite a bit after the individual sessions that he was allowed to do last week. We'll get him out there and put him in the mix and see how he's doing."

Manuel hurt his knee against Cleveland on October third. The Bills have gone 1-3 without him.

Manuel started doing more extensive work on the field last week before and after practice. After a session inside Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday before the Chiefs game he said he felt fine.

"Definitely looking forward to getting back to practice, full course, taking as many reps as coach allows me to get and move on from there.It's his decision at the end of the day, so I'm just going to go out there and work hard and get back where I was."

Manuel said suffering the knee injury taught him a valuable lesson. "That's just a part of playing football,I'm not going to play scared, I'm going to continue to try to get as many yards as I can and at the same time get out of bounds or slide or throw it away, whatever, when I get out of the pocket. When you can, get down; we call it the Peyton Manning rule, if you're in the pocket, get down as soon as possible. Those veteran guys understand that, they might not be able to take off, so get down and protect the body."